page_title: Brown fur seal
section_title: Ecology
hierarchical_section_title: Brown fur seal / Ecology
caption_attribution_description: English: Fur seals on Duiker Island, Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa
context_page_description: The brown fur seal, also known as the Cape fur seal, South African fur seal and Australian fur seal, is a species of fur seal.
context_section_description: The African fur seal lives around the southern and southwestern coast of Africa from Cape Cross in Namibia and around the Cape of Good Hope to Black Rocks near Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province. The Australian fur seal lives in Bass Strait, at four islands off Victoria in southeastern Australia, and five islands off Tasmania. Brown fur seals prefer to haul out and breed on rocky islands, rock ledges and reefs, and pebble and boulder beaches. However, some large colonies can be found on sandy beaches. Fur seals spend most of the year at sea, but are never too far from land. They have been recorded 160 km from land, but this is not common.
  The African fur seal's diet is made of up to 70% fish, 20% squid, and 2% crab. Also eaten are other crustaceans, cephalopods and sometimes birds. In rare instances, they have even been documented attacking and eating sharks. A recent incident occurred off Cape Point, South Africa, where a large male was observed attacking and killing five blue sharks between 1.0 and 1.4 m long. Observers concluded that the seal likely killed the sharks to eat the fish-rich contents of their stomachs, as well as their livers as a source of energy. The Australian fur seal mostly eats squid, octopus, fish, and lobsters. The brown fur seal dives for its food. The African subspecies can dive as deep as 204 m and for as long as 7.5 minutes. The Australian subspecies generally feeds at lower depths, diving on average 120 m and can reach as deep as 200 m.
  The brown fur seal's main predator is the great white shark, although they are also preyed upon by various other animals, such as killer whales and vagrant southern elephant seals. Land-based predators include black-backed jackals and brown hyenas on the Skeleton Coast in Namibia.
  In False Bay, the seals employ a number of antipredatory strategies while in shark-infested waters, such as:
  Swimming in large groups and harassing sharks in the vicinity
  Low porpoising to increase subsurface vigilance
  Darting in different directions to cause confusion when attacked
  Using their greater agility to stay out of reach
  Riding near the dorsal fin to keep out of reach of the shark's jaws when attacked
caption: A fur seal colony at Duiker Island, South Africa
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